monday mumblings: iloilo trip -- batchoy, brian, and coffee; comics on the reading list

I've not been reading any books of late because I've been rather hooked to reading (backtracking) on the events in DC comics. Right now I'm working on getting through the pre-Infinite Crisis series of books. As can be seen on the right side of this blog, I'm currently reading The Return of Donna Troy, one of the books that tie-in to the whole Infinite Crisis and after this 4-issuer, I'll get on to Villains United before I finally read Infinite Crisis proper and the ensuing 52 (and 52 Aftermath).

When I'm done with 52, I'll be proceeding to Final Crisis.


The unfortunate victim of my sudden turnaround to comics is A Game of Thrones which continues to be unread despite having traveled with me to Iloilo and Roxas City last week.

* * * *

Desk-work brought me back to Iloilo City last Wednesday.

My last visit to the place was I think late 2004 when I went there with the then RP National Basketball team coached by Boycie Zamar and bankrolled by Cebuana Lhuillier, my former desk. We were in Iloilo for the "Try-Outs ng Bayan" along with then the young national players of which I remember only Dennis Madrid, Celino Cruz, Marc Pingris, and Cyrus Baguio.

Last week, work again found me in Iloilo albeit for a quick stay (unlike the 2004 stay which was, if I remember correctly, 5 days). I had to visit our Iloilo branch and see what improvements can be done on the marketing-advertising side. I planed into the city on the noon-time PAL flight and was at the branch by 2:30pm. After an hour and a half and a dozen or so photos of the branch, I then had to kill time before meeting up with my pal, Brian, later that evening.

So, I undertook a mission I had promised to do -- sample the local coffee shops.

I was aiming to sample at least a couple of coffee shops but due to time constraint and the fact that the night plans changed abruptly, I was only able to check out Coffeebreak.

Near the Desk's branch was a branch of Coffeebreak which I promptly went to for a late lunch (I had just realized that I hadn't had a proper lunch as the flight was right smack in the middle of lunch-time).

Hazelnut coffee with passion "brownie"

I ordered their brew-of-the-week which was Hazelnut and also ordered a pastry which CB called Passion.

Passion is a moist choco-cake slice that is more brownie than cake with a choco-layer in between and almonds (or were those walnuts?) on top.

I'm not much a connoisseur of coffee but the CB brew was quite good and brownie was filling. Since I only had enough room for one coffee-type, I didn't have the chance to sample their iced or frapp coffee versions. Next time probably.

Aside from the great coffee and brownie was the free wi-fi at CB. 

Access to wi-fi granted!

I finally got the chance to test out the wi-fi capabilities of the PSP I brought along and after finally getting it configured, I simply asked the barista for wi-fi access and in minutes I was happily surfing away.

Using the PSP to connect to the internet shows one that not all websites have been configured to work on all mobile devices. Maybe the sites would work well on most tablets and smartphones but websites like Yahoo and even this blog did not display properly on the PSP screen. I could not even access the CMS of Blogger.com which made on-site blogging impossible. Fortunately, the mobile website versions of Twitter and FB worked well. Maybe I just need to install another internet OS on the PSP or upgrade it.

Just like any other coffeeshop, Coffeebreak's counter was easy to understand although they were more colorful than your usual green, brown, mocha variant shops.

Aside from passion, there were a lot other pastries and sweet stuff to chose from. Unfortunately, I wasn't there for a sugar-load. The other delicacies will just have to be tested on another occasion.

* * * *

It's always good to see Brian. 

Brian relocated to Iloilo several years back, got married, had kids, and has settled in his home province for good. So, it's quite seldom that we see each other, the last time being on the sad occasion of our friend's death.

Despite my trip to Iloilo being just a one-nighter, I still checked up on him and we agreed to meet later in the evening. He picked me up from my hotel around 9:30pm.

Deciding that coffee was the last thing on his mind that evening, we went instead to a small watering hole just off Loney Bridge (I think) for two bottles. While the videoke was blaring with tunes sung by the other patrons of the bar, we talked about life, careers, future plans, diabetes cares, and other stuff including reminiscing old times. 

After the two bottles and a song each, Brian proceeded to give me a tour of the city. I was surprised that at before 11pm, Iloilo was already relatively quiet, not unlike Cebu which at midnight was still roaring with life.

See you on my next vist, bro.

* * * *

The next day, I got up early, had breakfast at the hotel's resto, packed up my stuff and headed to the bus station for the trip to Roxas City which I'll chronicle on a next post.

* * * *

Everyone knows that Iloilo is famous for La Paz Batchoy. And when it comes to batchoy, the name Ted's easily comes to mind.

Deco's La Paz Batchoy

So, I evaded Ted's even though it was just around the corner and instead tried the La Paz batchoy at Deco's.

I ordered their special which promised a whole lot of extra stuff that would turn-off my doctor. This was dinner, some 30 minutes after I just had my mid-PM/late lunch at Coffeebreak. 

Along with the batchoy, I ordered four pieces of pre-war pandesal. The digit-sized pandesals were more interesting than the batchoy, sadly. These pandesals were bite-sized and were packed. You could use them as pamato if they were flatter. Despite their diminutive size, they were surprisingly filling. And they were baked well -- firm, packed, solid, yet easy to munch on. More like soft biscuits only thicker.

Going back to the batchoy ...

If my tastebuds remain accurate, the batchoy at Ted's was tastier. Although both stores used the same ingredients and are cooked the same, it all boils down to the sabaw or the broth. Ted's sabaw was the more superior one IMHO.

musings on dc's new 52 reboot

Today, August 31, DC Comics, that big comic company over the other side of the globe, jumpstarts its entire product line with the release of Justice League #1.

JL#1 will just be the tip of the iceberg as DC has cancelled all its product line and will be relaunching 51 other comics in a bid to make comics relevant to the current market whose interests, I suspect, are more attuned with stuff like computers, handheld gaming consoles, iPads and iPhones, mobile phones, and a social networking site called Facebook.

I haven't had time to delve into what-has-really-been-happening-that-has-led-to-DC-relaunching-everything but I feel that it has to do with not being able to capture a new audience. I understand sales of comics has slipped a notch or two and it has been fighting a losing battle for readership with more immersive media. And then there's also the possibility that new readers are not getting into comics because they feel there's so much history to backtrack that they'd rather take on something else.

Marvel Comics, if I understand correctly, tried to counter this with their "Ultimate" series and as far as I've read online, they've succeeded in getting new readers interested.

DC has taken the bolder step, IMHO, and decided to drop everything and instead relaunch its titles in what it hypes as the "New 52", starting with what is supposedly the flagship title -- Justice League.

From what available teasers and materials I've seen so far, JL#1 seems to be a re-telling of how the Justice League, composed of DC big-wigs Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and curiously, Cyborg, got assembled. It's going to be the same for several of the 51 other DC titles that'll be launched this September. There are however some titles that'll be somewhat continuations from their previous incarnations. And according to online sources including Wikipedia's entry on the DC reboot, much of the history and legacy of DC will remain intact such that storylines such as Blackest Night, Brightest Day, and Batman: The Killing Joke are part of the continuity.

So, will this reboot fly? I certainly hope so for DC's sake. Much of DC's universe is so convoluted that it certainly needs a reboot. The past "Crises" stories didn't succeed in cleaning up the mess so an entire sweep, just like this reboot of its entire line, might just be the right stroke for DC. It will also allow new readers to come onboard. For fans like myself who have not paid that much attention to what has been going on, the reboot serves as an invitation to once again take a peek into what's "new".

Am I interested? Certainly. But I'm not about to go off and spend thousands of pesos on all 52 titles. A quick visit to the comics shop recently told me I have to spend some Php 150 - Php 200 on a new ish. More if the comic title was in demand. With those prices, a collected edition might be more practical (and that's the most likely path I'll be taking). But I'll certainly be keeping tabs on what people will say about the new 52 DC titles.

Of the 52 titles that have been PR'ed, the ones that have piqued my interest include:

Justice League - with powerhouse tandem of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee joining forces on the flagship title.

The Flash - with Francis Manapul writing and drawing, this might be interesting

Action Comics - will star a Superman from his early days as a super-powered do-gooder and what makes this series more interesting is that it will be written by comic book rockstar, Grant Morrison. I'm not so taken with Rags Morales' artwork but hopefully it'll be better than the work he has done on Identity Crisis.

Legion of Superheroes - with Paul Levitz back in the writer's helm of this series, it can get interesting. I've been a long-time Legion fan (even creating my own version of the Legion in the 90s) so this will be one series I will most likely follow ish-per-ish.

Stormwatch - I'm 50/50 on this although I'm picking this only because I always have an interest on anything Stormwatch. It will be interesting to see how this former Wildstorm title makes it in the DCU continuity -- and with no Weatherman at that!

Grifter - another former Wildstorm title taken into the DCU fold. How will anti-hero Cole Cash survive in a world inhabited by the likes of Supes and Bats? Makes for an interesting storyline, hopefully.

For more of the low-down on what will happen to the DC universe you've come to love, head on over to Tor.com where Tim Callahan breaks down each of the new 52 DC titles and dissects them complete with his reco to buy it or not. You may not like his recommendation (especially if you're a fanatic of a title or two, or three) but you'll get more insights before you decide to spend the pesos (or dollars or yen) on a title.

now on the grrm bandwagon

Now why did I upload the image of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series of books?

That's because I now am officially joining the bandwagon of new GRRM fanatics with my purchase of A Game of Thrones, the first novel of the series.

After reading raves and praises for the series, and after reading the short novel "The Hedge Knight", I was convinced that GRRM's books will be worth diving into.

Thanks to National Bookstore's ongoing Cut-Price Booksale (which runs until the 21st of this month), I scored the mass market paperback edition (the blue one with the sword and not the Sean Bean version) for only Php 252 about an hour ago.

Now, if the pockets become deep enough before Sunday, I will try and purchase at least the next two books at the same rate of Php 252 apiece. NBS-Greenbelt still had several copies of the next three books in the series, namely A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast of Crows. I've only seen hardcover editions of A Dance with Dragons so far but that can wait as I still have to go through the first four novels before I ever get to ADWD.

* * * *

A quick check with my book purchases tells me that I've spent a mere Php 729 pesos from NBS' ongoing Cut-Price Booksale. I'm sure other bibliophiles' purchases have gone over the thousands. My wife will still be able to fathom my obsession with sci-fi and fantasy books :)

late review: legends 2 - new short novels by terry goodkind, george r.r. martin, & anne mccaffrey

Before I buy a music CD of an artist of which I've never heard of or only having a fleeting familiarity, I make sure I have listened to at least three songs from the prospective album before reaching into my pockets. Thank goodness for record bars that allow you to sample music (alas, no more Tower or Music One for such).

The same is true for a multi-volume series from an unknown author (at least, unread by yours truly). You would want a taste of how he or she writes before you splurge on that trilogy, pentad, or 12-volume epic or otherwise you'll be wasting several hundred pesos when you're the type like moi who otherwise buys his multi-volume series at least three books a time (a lesson I learned after completing David and Leigh Eddings' fantasy series in over three years or so).

So, the Legends 2 compilation of novellas by modern fantasy masters, edited by Robert Silverberg, comes as a sampler of sorts. The volume I have, Volume 2, collects short novels by Terry Goodkind, George RR Martin, and Anne McCaffrey -- three fantasy authors I've yet to read. The two other volumes compile short novellas by other writers like Stephen King, Silverberg, Orson Scott Card, Raymond Feist, Robert Jordan, Ursula Le Guin, Tad Williams, and Sir Terry Pratchett. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to score second-hand editions of the two other volumes from Book Sale.

But now more on Volume 2 ...

As someone who has yet to step into the popular fantasy worlds created by Goodkind, Martin, and McCaffrey, the novellas in Legends 2 act as a sampler of sorts. Even without buying the first volumes in their respective series', Legends 2 is already a good step into those worlds as these lengthened short stories are already able to give you a deeper-than-expected immersion to their respective worlds. They give you a bite, a listen, before you go on and buy the real thing.

After reading Goodkind's "Debt of Bones", set some years before Richard Cypher was born, I immediately wanted to rush to the bookstore to get my hands on "Wizards First Rule", the first in the Sword of Truth series. On the other hand, Martin's "The Hedge Knight", a scene set about a hundred years before the politically-motivated Song of Ice and Fire series intensified my belief that I should jump in the GRRM bandwagon (and also try to score a copy of the HBO TV series based on the epic). Thirdly, after some hesitation and a bit of a slow start, I found myself enjoying McCaffrey's Runner of Pern, a story about the Runners' caste in her sci-fi and fantasy mash-up set in the world of Pern. I'm sure to start looking around for other Pern books from now on.

The three novellas are all superbly written, no doubt showing the prowess of the writers and the richness and depth of the imaginative worlds they've created. While you're only shown a bit of the worlds explored in the volume, there leaves no doubt in your mind that there's a whole lot of world out there to explore for each of the three novellas in their respective series'. Instead of just being merely satisfied, you're left with a craving to know more, read more, and be immersed more. Just like the first time you traveled with Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and his merry band of dwarves to Smaug's mountain to retrieve the Arkenstone.

I can't really say much about the writing as I've yet to compare these stories with the authors' other works, having read none before. But reading these novellas gives you a glimpse of how the authors' respective series' will "sound" like. And from my personal "sounding" of the three novellas, I liked how they sound. The full series' promise to be a treat.

First time readers of these authors will surely delight in this book. And for a read in mint condition, bought at only Php 80, this is quite a steal! Brand new sells at over Php 300 at most bookstores.

Now, I will just need to shell out a few thousand or so to buy the full series of all three authors though. Now, that's a killer.

Final Rating: 5/5

late review: contra tiempo by sandwich

Contra Tiempo - Sandwich

PolyEast Records 2010

12 Tracks on the CD:

• Lapit! Lapit! Lapit!

• Lakad

• Takbo

• Stranded

• Pera Pera

• Sugatan

• Putik

• Sulputin

• Bisikleta

• Downhill

• Dispalinghado

• Siesta

Memorable and melodic guitar riffs. Right mix of synths, distorts, and percs. The distinct Raims vox.

The Sandwich sound that defined the band since Raimund Marasigan took over vocal duties in 2005 continues in their latest offering, Contra Tiempo, Sandwich's sixth studio album.

Ever since Marasigan became the frontman of the five-piece band, the Sandwich sound has become frenetic, punkish, quirky, pop-rockish, and at times lighter than their heavy, grunge-influenced era with former vocalist Marc Abaya. Defined by melodic and memorable licks and rhythms, the Sandwich sound of today is a bit of a departure from their distortion-heavy days (Grip Stand Throw, 4-Track Mind, and Thanks to Moon's Gravitational Pull) but despite that, they have maintained their edge and rawness that still puts them well categorized as a rock band.

Contra Tiempo, as an album, evokes movement or motion (or the lack thereof) -- obviously evidenced by such tracks as Lakad, Takbo, Bisikleta, Downhill, and Lapit! Lapit! Lapit! While the other track titles might not seem like it, listening to the lyrics and the melody of these tracks also makes one think that they adhere to the album's "motion" theme. If this theme was deliberate or not, I don't know but it works as each track moves you to the next, evoking a progression.

If you're weary of that really heavy rock-metal sound and wish for a distraction that is lighter yet edgy then this album is for you. Keeps you awake while driving and it grows on you. After a few spins of the CD, you'll find yourself mumbling memorable choruses and verses because that's how addictive the music is. Sandwich fans (yours truly included) have no doubt in my mind, that this is the same, true-blue Sandwich we've all fallen in love with. Don't look for any underlying symbolisms behind the lyrics because there's probably none. The songs' lyrics are pretty straightforward. These are not just songs, they're stories and the authors (Marasigan and company) have chosen not to complicate the listener's enjoyment behind symbolism, innuendos, and stuff. They sing their stories with catchy tunes and oh-so-easy-to-remember lines.

Despite the English titles in some, all 12 tracks are in Filipino / Tagalog. Are they unable to write English songs, some might ask. As someone who has dabbled in songwriting, writing in your own tongue allows one to be more creative and witty. I guess the same is true with Sandwich. But don't get me wrong, Sandwich has done great English songs in their past albums.

There's nothing really starkly differentiating Contra Tiempo from previous Sandwich albums. And in this case, that's a good thing because that mainly tells us that Sandwich is consistent -- consistently good -- dishing out another superb album for people to enjoy.

Memorable tunes for me include Lakad, the Ondoy-inspired Putik, the LSS-inducing Pera Pera, and Stranded. Even my daughter, Ikai, has already learned to mumble the chorus of Stranded -- "Stranded sa airport, stranded sa airport" evoking curious looks from her Auntie who can't fathom what song her niece was singing.

Sandwich fans will have another killer album to add to their collection. New listeners who have never heard of Sandwich before will most likely try to get their hands on earlier Sandwich albums.

The album title is a line from their song, Sulputin.

Final Rating: 5/5

friday frolics: happy f-day, lists of books, old video games

Happy Father's Day!

That greeting goes for my Father -- Ely Ragandan, and of course, to all the fathers I know including my uncles, my cousins, my nephews, my friends, my current anf former officemates, and all the menfolk I have known who are now doting fathers to their respective sons and daughters, and yes, even grandchildren.

* * * *

Just had to put that out up front lest I don't get a chance to do it over the weekend as I'm not yet sure whether I'll have time to go online and blog.

Sadly, prior unshakeable commitments make it impossible for us to celebrate Father's Day on Sunday with my folks. And even though Monday has been declared a holiday, Elvie has work so that really ended plans for the family to go to Laguna this weekend. We'll just have to do the celebration another day then.

In any case, experience dictates that Father's Day isn't only confined to just one day -- every second, minute, hour, or day you spend with your children is already Father's Day. It's all in the mind, and in the heart :)

* * * *

And since it'll be a forthcoming three-day weekend, I hopefully can find the time to finally finish off the Hercules' Labors episode in Zeus: Master of Olympus and move on to the next episode.

While the game is an open sandbox (meaning there's really no definitive end to it), by completing the remaining two episodes (each episode consisting of about 4-5 chapters), it'll be akin to finishing the game (and then move on to the next level of difficulty). Plus, there are scores of downloadable episodes made by fans over at Zeus Heaven.

After this, I just need to locate my Poseidon expansion CD and it'll be off to Atlantean episodes thereafter :)

* * * *

When I was younger and had less responsibilities, roles, and commitments, there were lots of time to play video-games. And back then, I didn't even own my own computer.

My friend and former office-mate, Noel (Happy Father's Day, pre!), and I installed various games on our respective PCs. Since we were in marketing, we were provided with the top-of-line PCs, Noel's PC a bit more powerful than mine mainly because he doing graphic design stuff. Where did we get time to play? Well, off-hours, of course, meaning before work, during lunch-time, and after work. And yes, we even sneaked in a few minutes or so during work hours just to stave off the boredom.

I remember waking up quite early and leaving Laguna for the office before the sun was up just so I could have about 2 hours playtime. Offices opened at 9am so I was usually in the office by 7am and after a quick breakfast, went on to play. Lunch was also a quick affair -- at times done while playing. And then, staying on for another hour or so -- not for overtime work -- but to play. There was a period I was so addicted to a game that I left home at 5am just so I'll be in the office before 6am to play.

What sort of games are we talking about?

Well, some of those games I continue to play today like Zeus, Nox, and Dungeon Keeper 2. We also played the likes of Starcraft and Warcraft, plus Diablo. Noel tended more to play with action-packed games like MechWarrior, Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft, and Half-Life while I leaned more towards simulations including Sim City, The Sims (1), and ThemePark World. I also played Odium for a while and almost finished Septerra Core but games I actually managed to finish during that time included Freedom Fighters, Max Payne 1, and Medal of Honor and its expansion packs. I also wasted a lot of hours on Grand Theft Auto III and on Asterix and Obelix. Noel and I, and sometimes with other colleagues in the department battled it out with the IT guys over Counter-Strike. It was CS that gained the notice of management. Apparently, since a lot of people played CS over the office network, the bandwidth was severely hogged by those playing that this caused the disruption of certain services including internet and email services. That ended networked games and we were back to playing solo.

Those were the days :)

* * * *

Unfortunately, Fully Booked Greenbelt didn't have copies of Philippine Speculative 6 on hand when I went there yesterday noon. They did have copies of the earlier volumes except for Volume 4 so I'll make sure to secure copies of those one of these days.

* * * *

To help me in my book prowls, I've started keeping small bits of papers in my wallet that lists down books I hope to add into my collection. This'll be helpful when I find myself deliberately or unexpectedly in bookstores and book bins with moolah to spare. At least I won't have to wrack my brains trying to remember whether I already have a book in a particular series.

Anthologies and stand-alone novels are no problem.

The problematic ones are those that are part of a series and many sci-fi and fantasy books belong to such. That won't be a problem with books by Brian Jacques which do not require you having prior knowledge from earlier books. However, if a epic story is split into a trilogy or a quad or pentad, that becomes a problem. I still have in my collection volumes 2 and 3 of the The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant which I bought on sale but have yet to secure volume 1.

My wallet now has lists for the following:

• missing books from the Redwall Series by Brian Jacques (I've actually amassed over half already of all volumes, just missing the more recent ones)
• missing books from the Left Behind series
• Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Robot series
• list of books under the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica Series by James Owen
• George RR Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series (seems that book 1 -- A Game of Thrones -- is usually out of stock in recent days)
• books from Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld (which like Jacques' can be read out of order but I've downloaded a reading guide some weeks ago that would help a newbie like me)

The latest list to join my bits of paper in the wallet is a list of core steampunk books that'll help one appreciate the genre.

When I get to buy a book from one of the lists, then I simply cross it out. So, these bits of paper will be staying for a while in my wallet as I'm not buying books as much as I used to.

* * * *

Happy weekend, folks!

monday mumblings: goodbye leila, new rig, new book, new way to escape traffic to tagaytay

Last week ended on a rather sad note.

Last Saturday as I was getting ready for a day at the mall, I received a text message from a former colleague that another former colleague of ours, and a dear and wonderful friend, Leila Luna-Cacanindin, had just passed away.

Leila had been battling a form of ovarian cancer for about 7 months now. Unfortunately, her body, already weakened by the ordeal wasn't able to last any longer but as narrated by her mother and her husband, she was still being funny and her usual jolly self towards the end. And according to her mom, she just slept and didn't suffer any pain when she relinquished her hold on life early morning of Saturday.

Yesterday, a group of Leila's friends and colleagues (present and former) including myself and Elvie trekked to Tagaytay to pay our respects to our dearly departed friend and console Lei's loved ones.

Our condolences to Leila's bereaved loved ones, including her mother, her husband Obet, and her daughter, Yshia.

* * * *

Our entourage to Leila's wake included a certain 4-year old with a knack for asking questions that demand rather hard-to-explain answers.

While Ikai primarily went with us because she wanted to see Ate Yshia (Ikai attended Yshia's seventh birthday last January), she also got to see a a departed person in a coffin for the first time in her life. While she did not show any fear or apprehension, she of course was curious about all that was happening inside Yshia's home.

Before the wake, we had already explained to her in as simple terms as possible the circumstances about Leila's death, euphemizing death as "the sleep you never wake up from". We told her that Yshia's mom is already in heaven with Jesus and that people are going to be sad and some might be crying because they won't be able to be with Yshia's mom. I even tried explaining to her using science -- explaining that the spirit is like the phase of matter gas -- can't be seen and that this

spirit/gas has already went to heaven leaving the solid / body behind.

Arriving home last night from the wake, Ikai got me cornered and peppered me with more questions.

Apparently, she thought that heaven was the rectangular box Leila's mother was in so I had to explain that the coffin wasn't heaven and that heaven was somewhere else. She asked where and I said no one knows (a hard answer to say to a child, mind you). I again tried to explain that sometimes people sleep forever and never wake up and that they leave loved ones behind and reunite with them later on (as in really later on and not just like next week or so)

I believe in the course of that 20-minutes-something conversation I may have used words such as death, dead people, spirit, ghost, heaven, after-life, etc. etc. but I don't think I made the notion of death any clearer to her.

However, when I closed my eyes for a bit, Ikai suddenly shook my arm and said in a rather alarmed voice, "Bakit mo close yung eyes mo, Papa?".

I ended the conversation (before it turned morbid) by saying that things like death and dead people she will understand when she gets older. Ikai started to say why again but I cut her off with a basta and again told her that when she gets older, she'll understand.

* * * *

The big red car is missing one mudguard so while in SM Megamall last Saturday, I found myself inside Concorde, the car accessories shop hoping to score a new mudguard.

After a few minutes of going around the shop, I found the mudguards but they had no Innova '07 mudguards on display. I went to a store personnel and asked where I could find '07 Innova mudguards and after receiving a baffled look, he directed me to another part of the store and pointed to door sunvisors and promptly left me for another customer. Egad!

To their credit, they had a lot of customers that time so I guess they were hilong-talilong so I forgave the first chap and proceeded to get the attention of another store personnel. I went to one and asked if they had the mudguards I needed. He motioned affirmative and led me to another area in the store, pointed at the shelf and left. Unfortunately, he pointed to those decorative fiber glass

stuff you could put on your vehicle's hood. What I needed went under the car, not above it.

Seeing that getting the right mudguard would be pointless at that time, I left the store but not before commenting to the lady security guard that their store personnel needed additional training.

* * * *

There's a new rig in the apartment.

That was the main reason for the trip to Megamall as we had ample resource to buy a new rig.

But it wasn't a full laptop that we purchased but a netbook, an Asus Eee PC which we scored for a very friendly amount. Albeit, the downside is that it didn't come with an OS so before the 30-day trial lapses, I need to get the netbook installed with a full Windows 7 OS. I asked if it were possible to install Windows XP on it but the personnel at Complink told me that the netbook's drivers were meant for at least a Windows 7 OS. I guess that settled it.

The new Asus is a decent enough machine -- 1 GB DDR3 memory with a 250GB hard disk. It runs on an Intel Atom N450 processor with integrated video graphics. I don't expect to play Sims 2 on this machine but it had no problem running the FB games I play. It's not as fast as I had hoped it would be but then again, the machine does what it's meant to do -- surf the net, connect to wi-fi, and well, although untested yet, I think it'll be able to do your usual MS Office stuff: word processing, MS Excel, and probably Power Point.

For the meantime, this netbook will have to do. We're still looking at purchasing a full laptop but it's not a priority right now.

* * * *

A day after writing that I was meaning to buy as my next book purchase James A. Owen's The Search for the Red Dragon, I contradicted myself and bought instead the second installment of The Mysterious Benedict Society.

In all honesty, I already had The Search for the Red Dragon in my hand at Power Books last Saturday and was on my way to the cashier (with my daughter, Ikai, in tow after we purchased a couple of activity books for her) when I espied the second volume of Trenton Lee Stewart's series hawked on the stands at a irresistably lower price.

I immediately looked again at the price of the book I had in my hand -- Php 379 -- and looked again at The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey on the display -- Php 279 -- and after a few seconds of thinking of buying the two books, I sheepishly returned the higher priced book to its shelf. Sorry, James. Next time.

I still ended up paying Php 295 for the Stewart book. Why? Because I overlooked their ad -- they were selling the book for Php 279 if you bought it with a Citibank credit card. Since I bought the book in cash, I didn't get the discount (on most occasions, the promo works the other way around, you get a lower price if you pay in cash).

And here's the clincher ... I found myself at Fully Booked Greenbelt over lunch today and smacked my forehead with my hand in utter disbelief --- Fully Booked was selling the same Stewart book for a freaking Php 280! I've been had!

* * * *

Incidentally, Fully Booked also sells the third volume of The Mysterious Benedict Society series entitled The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma at a slightly higher price -- Php 285. Resisted the urge to bring out the wallet and hurried myself out of Fully Booked before my impulsive book-buying self emerged.

* * * *

Dreading the weekend traffic to Tagaytay on the usual route?

Take the alternate -- via Aguinaldo Hi-Way.

It's not a shortcut. It's a longer route but it gets you to Tagaytay faster (for now) because you avoid the traffic hassles of Paseo de Sta. Rosa and Nuvali (both ways!).

From SLEX, exit either at Southwoods or Carmona and head off to Governor's Drive. Drive the route all the way to SM Dasma and then turn left on Aguinaldo Hi-way. It's then a straight travel up to the Tagaytay rotunda. Saves you some 40 minutes of travel time and when you drive a stick shift like I do, you would want to avoid the Santa Rosa-Tagaytay road traffic jams at all cost!

It's actually not a new route. It's actually an old route but people have generally by-passed it in favor of the Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road because the latter is shorter. Unfortunately, like I said, the developments along the shorter route to Tagaytay have compounded the traffic jams that made traveling the shorter route take a longer time.

wednesday warbles: tigana, best philippine spec-fic, quijano, rissa's christening

Taking a little break from the insanity that is work to give me brains some oxy!

* * * *

I am currently reading Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, a book loaned by a colleague from the Desk who is also into SF&F. GGK is a new author for me and if Tigana is any indicator, I could end up buying his other works (or an alternate to buying would be hitting the sale books bins and scrounge for them).

Other authors I would like to line-up as must reads include Jeff VanderMeer and his fiction works circling around his world of Ambergris (including the novel Finch), China Tom Mieville (The City and the City), and Lavie Tidhar. Among these three, I will most likely read Tidhar first because I have in my N6680 an eARC of his work, Bookman, which according to Wikipedia is a steampunk-themed novel.

And since we're already talking about SF&F and reading, the indefatigable Charles Tan has released earlier last month The Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction 2009, compiling what seems to be the best of the best in the Philippine spec-fic field for 2009. The anthology is available for free reading online and for download as a PDF or an EPUB. Unfortunately, my EPUB download didn't work with the N6680 which runs Mobipocket reader even if it's supposed to work. So, I may just end up downloading the PDF and probably print that out and get that binded :)

* * * *

And while still on the subject of books ...

I've recently finished reading Nick Joaquin's Reportage on Crimes, a book originally published in 1977 when I was but a year old.

I bought the book purely out of whim after seeing it on the shelf of Powerbooks in Glorietta. I've always wondered about the journalistic side of old Quijano de Manila (old Nick's nick or sometimes pen name) and by the title alone, the book then promised such (it was a choice actually between Reportage on Crimes or Reportage on Lovers, chose the former). And surprisingly, the book did show the journalist in old Nick.

Reportage is like an investigative crime TV show (think Gus Abelgas's SOCO, or Arnold Clavio's defunct show Emergency, or Tulfo's Bitag) but only in prose. Rather than straight out narrative of crime news, Joaquin, through sheer his sheer writing prowess transformed what would have been stale and common news fodder into investigative pieces that captivated and begged readers to finish the true-to-life tales. Only a journalist of Joaquin's genius could have mastered the art of blending true news stories and literary story-telling, the likes of which I've yet to see in today's newspapers whether broadsheets or tabloids.

Reportage transported the readers to the 1960s and gave a picture of the Metro Manila then, harkening old places such as the Grand Opera House or Odeon Cinema and giving us later generations a glimpse into the early lives of famous personalities we've grown accustomed to like FPJ and Erap (who, according to the book where notoriously notorious in their younger days) in thirteen crime stories included in the volume. While reading the book, my imagination was in a perpetual state of black and white -- just like watching the old movies before Technicolor was invented.

Reading Reportage somehow rekindled the journalistic interest in me, if only briefly. Nevertheless, I believe any true-blooded journalist should take time to read and learn from the master. And that makes buying the other volume, Reportage on Lovers, a must as well for me.

* * * *

I've switched back to my old phone, the Nokia 6680, taking it back from my sister-in-law, and gave to her the E71 Pro (kuno) phone. Until I get a new phone one of these days, I'm sticking with the 6680 for the meantime.

* * * *

It was a tight group that was with the family when our little Rissa Kristelle was christened last May 29 at the Cosmopolitan Church. It was a bigger crowd that joined us for the reception that followed at Lotus Garden Hotel Manila.

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you'll see some photos of event in my photo gallery.

Thanks to all our relatives and friends who shared that special moment with us, and special thanks as well to Pastor Bing Dakanay for accommodating our request for a christening even if it was on a Saturday.

thursday tattles: self-sketch, arlan, february birthdays

Egad!!! It's me with my coffee mug and my desk!

I actually sketched this last week and is part of the few Sketch-A-Day sketches I did for Week 2. Week 3 is actually worse than Week 2 as I haven't sketched anything as of yet. However, I did manage to ink this one using a black-inked art pen, took a photo with my trustee Nokia 6680, gray scaled the photo in Photoshop and voila!

* * * *

Sketching and writing have been hampered as work continued to pile on.

Yesterday was field work day as I had to travel to Lucena with my boss to supervise the installation of acrylic poster holders (and posters, of course) by the supplier at our branch there. Today was half-day because I had to go to LTO to get a license.

And the freakest thing about the whole license thingy is that I passed the written exam -- 39 out of 40 items! I know, I know, the whole exam thing is not that hard but try doing the test in Tagalog and let's see if you get a perfect score.

So, by Saturday I will be full-pledged non-pro Filipino driver. And that's one more valid ID for multi-purpose use. Anyone selling an Innova?

* * * *

Sad news today from Komikero -- Arlan Esmeña, architect and artist on Where Bold Stars Go to Die, passed away this morning. He was a good friend of Gerry and his collaboration with Gerry on Bold Stars allowed him to pursue his dream of illustrating a comic book.

Many of us knew Arlan only through Gerry and through their collaboration. He will be remembered not only for Bold Stars but also for the videos that he and Komikero shot and those transforming robots he made out of carton. While we would have wished to have seen a lot more stuff from Arlan, at least he has left us with a legacy in Bold Stars that will forever be mentioned in comic circles for years to come.

Rest well, Arlan!

* * * *

I've made this observation on FB before --- time is flying fast! It's already Friday tomorrow.

* * * *

February is one heck of a month. It's the only month I know when a lot of people I know celebrate their birthday. And thanks to a nifty Facebook app, those who have celebrated, are celebrating, and will be celebrating their birthday include:

1 - my beloved Mother, mi Mama, akon nanay celebrates hers

5 - Fritz Haresco

6 - Ging Valencia

8 - Ella Simon-Sarzosa

9 - Badette Cual

11 - Jo Benasa, Rhoda Ninofranco, cousin Reggie

13 - Emmylou, Rechei

14 - Angelo T., Jing G.

15 - Sheena Roxas

16 - Gem Lopez-de Ramos

17 - Ray Samson

18 - TODAY'S CELEBRANTS - Francis O, Francis U, and Rea

20 - Kaye Liangco-Plata

21 - Monique de Jesus

23 - Joel Conato

24 - Moi, Yours Truly, Joyz Serrano, and Irene Tuazon

25 - Alex Regaspi, Joe Pimentel-League, Bryan B.

26 - my sister Wheng

27 - my other sister Rochelle

28 - Che Ayuste

Happy Birthday February People!

tuesday tidbits: issa and ikai, belated greetings, innocent life, spec-fic in 2010, sims 2

Firstly, please allow me the honor of welcoming you to another year of blogging (and ranting) here at The Coffee House Chronicles. Come 1st of May 2010, this here blog turns four years old -- a feat somewhat for yours truly at having maintained (albeit lamely) an online presence since 2006.

TCHC was preceded by my first foray into blogging -- The Oblique Observer -- which I envisioned then to be somewhat a newsblog of sorts, turning the daily happenings of my life into news articles all written from a third person persona. Alas, that format was a bit tedious to maintain and speaking (blog-wise) in the first person (the so-called "I" persona) was easier as thoughts flowed more easily from brain to hand which then churned out what you have been reading for the last four years.

I do hope to revisit TOO one of these days and turn it into an interest-driven blogsite ... something along the lines of the speculative probably. I also just checked and found out that a proper .com for TOO can be availed (or .net, if .com gets taken) and then I can probably configure the Blogger TOO to point to the actual URL, similar to how I am currently running my revenue-generating blog (which, unfortunately until now, has not yet generated any revenue, thank you).

Getting back to CHC ... I hope it will be a better year for blogging in CHC this 2010. Last year was not really that great and it showed in the quality and quantity of entries posted. This year, I will drive myself to update CHC and the rest of my blogs more frequently as things happen and not wait for things to die down before I get to sit down in front of the computer and type away.

* * * *

My apologies to relatives, friends, and acquaintances who might be wondering why they did not hear any greeting of holiday cheers from me last month. It was a rather busy holiday -- not because of the shopping sprees and stuff -- but because of the birth of Rissa Kristelle or Baby Issa (who now weighs a hefty 5 kilos!) and the confinement of my eldest, Ikai, in the hospital for five days thanks to a late-blooming baby measles (or in Filipino, tigdas-hangin).

But you all were in my mind and have spiritually sent my greetings to all on the 25th of December and thereafter.

Apologies are in order too to the Espinos (Jasper and Olga) for not being there for your babies' special thanksgiving and baptism, and to the Cruzes (Dennis and Pilar) for missing on your chikitings' celebration as well. And I have not been a very good ninong as well -- my inaanaks Ziggy and Luis fell victim to a hiding godfather. Promise boys, the next time we see each other I will make bawi.

It seems as well that I have also failed to greet people during the Christmas break even on Facebook -- the only site which I probably checked consistently during the short times I was on the 'net -- I have been bad and naughty. No wonder, Santa Claus did not give me any gift last Christmas.

* * * *

Work in 2009 was all about transition and change.

As early as March, my mind was made up that I would be changing business addresses but that only came to fruition in August when I bailed from the gaming company where I have been working since 2006 to join the new Desk -- Philippine Veterans Bank.

The decision to switch desks was done after a thorough soul-searching and a lengthy application process. While the monthly pay dipped a bit in the new desk, the overall remuneration package helped seal the deal and I found myself donning my barongs under a new ID.

The switch to a more traditional and mainstream Desk meant a drastic and at times unbelievable culture change. Whereas everything was fast and furious and frantic at the old Desk, the pace at the new Desk was rolling at the first and second gears only. Not because there was nothing to be done but because of existing systems and rules and procedures which hark back to the good ole days at the PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies.

But all in good time. I think I am getting the hang of things right now in the new Desk.

* * * *

This post is now starting to sound like a year-in-review ... sheesh ...

* * * *

Moving on to more personally-oriented stuff ...

I hope to accomplish more this 2010 in the field of creative writing, particularly, in the field of speculative writing (or in other words, the science-fiction and fantasy genre).

Last year saw me finally taking the initial steps into the realms of SF&F writing with submissions to two calls. Even though my submitted works failed in both instances, it was still a feat for yours truly for having submitted something in the first place.

This year I hope to do better in terms of the quality of stories I will write and of course, the quantity. There are a lot of promising markets this year both in the local and international spec-fic writing scene (just look at the right column of this blog for those writing deadlines) and while it would be quite an honor to have your stories appear in mags and anthos and 'zines abroad, a worthwhile achievement would be getting your stories published locally.

* * * *

If it seems that this blog is starting to get more spec-fic related than ever it is certainly because I have seemed to embrace the genre even more.

And thanks to the presence of online blogs, sites and 'zines on the genre, my appreciation for the genre has grown exponentially the past few years. While my reading time for the actual books has diminished, getting information and news on the happenings in the genre has become easier and I now read about a lot of writers in the field as well as realize that my exposure to the genre is still quite limited (often limited by the depth of the pocket and availability of books of the spec-fic nature at your friendly, neighborhood bookstore).

But nevertheless, technology is helping bridge the gap -- what with ebooks and purchase downloads. And I hope to exploit my abroad-based sisters to purchase for me books that are unavailable here in the P.I.

* * * *

Happy to report that my first year as a futurist robo-farmer in the PSP game Innocent Life has been completed with flying colors. By that, I mean that in the first year alone, I was able to accomplish the objective of saving the world.

The walkthrough did help a lot but for this game, patience was key. And the same virtue continues to be important as I start my second year with goal of harvesting 1000 crops in the next two years.

Speaking of games, Datablitz is putting up their Sims 2 games on half-prices. According to a saleslady I spoke to in their Park Square 1 branch, they were selling Sims 2 games (main games, expansions, and stuff packs) at half-price because the games were being phased out. Of course, with Sims 3 already here (with already one expansion game as well), demand for Sims 2 has dropped.

The minute I learned of this promo my heart sang out Simlish songs in joy because to date, I only have the Sims 2 Double Deluxe game and one stuff pack -- the H&M Fashion Stuff. The cut-price on the expansions would mean moi being able to buy them -- at least the University and the Open for Business ones.

Unfortunately, both Park Square 1 and Greenbelt 1 branches of Datablitz no longer carried the stand-alone expansion packs (all they had were stuff packs and at GB the recently-released University + 2 stuff package) so I will need to scour the other DB branches and hopefully snag my targeted Sims 2 expansion packs.

thursday tattles: delicadeza, freedom force, christmas

And just like that it's already December.

And December this time around is going to be special for me and my little family. Anytime between now and the 26th, we can expect the 4th member of our little mob to arrive. A false alarm over the three-day weekend had us packing and getting to rush off to the hospital but good thing the overnight sleep helped stopped Elvie's contractions. Last Friday, she was still in her 37th week when the contractions happened, still a bit early for Baby Isa to step into the world. But this week, Elvie is now in her 38th week and it's much safer now for the baby to be born.

So, my nerves will be a bit jumpy in the next couple of weeks or so anticipating that call from my wife about a water bag getting broken and something about rushing off to the hospital to have the baby delivered.

Let's see, bag is packed -- baby's going-home clothes, receiving blanket, Elvie's and my own clothes, a book or two to bring along, my PSP, deo, cologne, soap, toothbrush, spare blanket (for me), smallish bath towel, small notebook, lots of pens, glucose-meter, charger for the cellphone, digicam ...

Am I ready? I have to be. I'm going to be a father again :)

* * * *

Have had some difficulty sleeping the past three nights.

Last Sunday night, I wasn't able to sleep early despite feeling drowsy as early as 9pm. I ended up sleeping past 3am already. That was still fine because Monday was a holiday so no problem extending the winks in the morning.

Last Monday night however was a real bummer though. With work resuming the next day, I knew I had to really sleep. Unfortunately, I again wasn't able to catch Mr. Sandman early and ended up sleeping around 3am again. I ended up a zombie at work.

Last Tuesday's bout with sleep was better as I managed to get myself knocked off half past twelve.

As of this writing, it's already 12:20am Thursday. No sleep in sight yet. Good luck to me.

* * * *

I've put playing Innocent Life on hold for a bit as it was getting boring.

I've instead fired up my laptop and am now playing an old game from circa 2002 -- Freedom Force.

If you're a fan of old-school comics, hawking back to the days when comic heroes were reciting cornball lines and drawn Jack Kirby-style, you're going to love Freedom Force. While it's a video game, it pays homage to the Golden Age of superhero comics (forget Darna or Captain Barbell or Lastikman, mind you) with those outrageous dialogues that heroes and super-villains alike recite before attacking, and cut-scenes offering the origins of the heroes you control.

Speaking of control, FF is a squad-based, tactical, real-time strategy game where you control a group of up to four super-heroes and direct their actions in fulfillment of a stated mission. You start of with a Captain America knock-off called Minute Man but as you progress through the missions, new heroes join you or you hire available heroes. You also upgrade your heroes to unlock better powers.

Action can become quite frantic and some missions will require you to split up your heroes. This can lead to frequent scrolling all over the map to ensure that you keep your heroes in check. Thank goodness for the space button -- the PAUSE button. While paused, you can issue commands to your hero making the game (and the heroes) easier to manage (and helps you catch your breath).

I first played this game some four or five years ago and back then I had to play it on someone else's PC because my own desktop couldn't handle the graphics (full 3D!). But flash-forward to today, it runs smoothly on my Compaq CQ40 thanks to the ATI Radeon shared video graphics.

* * * *

In the news ...

According to DILG Secretary Puno, PGMA running for Congress is heeding the clamor of her future constituents. He says that call to run as Congresswoman of the 2nd district of Pampanga outweighs the call for delicadeza.

So, delicadeza is no longer a trait to be valued, you say? 'Lang hiya ...

* * * *

Because of the timing of our daughter's birth, we'll be celebrating Christmas in Makati for the first time since Elvie and I got married. It has become a tradition for us to spend the holidays with my parents in Laguna these past years so this year is a break of that tradition.

Well, it might also end up that we might be spending Christmas at the hospital after all. Elvie's due date is around December 26 after all, give or take a week or so.

However, like I mentioned earlier in this post, this Christmas season is quite special not only because of the birth of our new daughter but also because we'll be celebrating Christmas in our little apartment whereby we'll be preparing a Christmas feast -- the first time we'll be doing that.

Expect waistlines to explode this Christmas season and I'm sure my endocrinologist will be admonishing me come January for the weight gain -- and I'll hear her say I'm grossly obese again! But, it's bound to be a happy Christmas so a little pagalit will be fine. I just have to stay a bit conscious not to eat too much, hopefully.